James Harden appears to be covering up the Nike logo on his socks

James Harden appears to be covering up the Nike logo on his socks

Over the summer, Nike took over for Adidas as the NBA’s on-court apparel company. Before the changeover, the league had a deal with Stance to create the socks players wore during games, but as part of the Nike deal, Nike took over all aspects of the on-court uniform, including socks. That’s created a conflict for stars with signature shoes from other companies, such as James Harden, who is one of Adidas’ most prominent signature athletes.

Harden appears to be solving the problem by simply covering up the Nike logo on his socks during games.

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE

Technically speaking, rolling down your socks to cover up a logo isn’t against the NBA’s uniform rules, so Harden isn’t breaking any rules by doing this. But it’s a fascinating look into how superstars navigate conflicts of sponsorship interests.